Highlanders hammer Oak Ridge, clinch share of 14-5A championship

Published 5:03 pm, Saturday, February 5, 2011

The Woodlands boys basketball team forced 15 turnovers and grabbed 14 offensive boards in the first half Saturday on its way to a 73-51 home victory over Oak Ridge.

It was the Highlanders’ 19th straight win and they clinched at least a share of the District 14-5A title.

“We did a lot of full-court man-to-man in the first and second quarter,” The Woodlands coach Dale Reed said. “The intensity was great. We did a great job of helping each other out. When we got beat on penetration, we had good help-side. And then we did a great job on the boards, blocking out and rebounding. The effort was outstanding.”

It didn’t hurt that The Woodlands made 6 of 15 from beyond the arc before the break while the War Eagles shot 6 of 15 overall in the first half.

Leading 7-6, The Woodlands (26-3, 9-0) closed the opening quarter with an 8-0 run as Oak Ridge turned the ball over on five straight possessions.

When the War Eagles (18-10, 6-4) turned it over seven times in their first 11 possessions of the second quarter, the Highlanders’ advantage ballooned to 30-11 two and a half minutes before halftime.

“They came out ready to play and we did not,” Oak Ridge coach Rob Stewart said. “Our first half was an embarrassing effort. It was probably the worst half we’d had the whole year.”

Wes Cole scored 12 of his team-high 16 points in the first half — including 3 of 6 shooting on 3s — for The Woodlands, which had 12 players make at least one basket. Joey Trinkle had 10 of his 12 in the fourth quarter, Brandon Caporale finished with nine and Garret Colonna added eight.

In the third quarter the War Eagles’ Terrell Lawrence scored 10 of a game-high 21 points as Oak Ridge began a charge, eventually pulling within 54-42 early in the fourth.

“I think one of the big things was that they started to hit some of their shots,” Reed said. “Even when we were contesting ’em, they still hit some big shots and made that run. I think our intensity let up a little bit playing with a big lead. But I felt like we finished the game strong by tightening up a little bit and getting after them.”

After the War Eagles made their run, the Highlanders pushed back with a 15-5 spurt to seal the game. Trinkle scored eight points during that stretch on two layups, a jumper and two free throws. Colonna added an inside bucket and Caporale had two layups.

“I thought we really competed well,” Stewart said. “The second half was more indicative of Oak Ridge basketball than the first half was. (The difference was) almost 100 percent effort.”

The War Eagles close the regular season with a home date against Lufkin on Tuesday and a trip to Kingwood a week later. The Mustangs improved to 6-3 in 14-5A play with a 49-34 victory at Atascocita on Saturday.

“I think we have a great chance to win our last two games against Lufkin and Kingwood,” Stewart said. “If we’ll compete the way we did in the second half, I think we’ll come away with two victories.”

The Highlanders can clinch outright the district title when they travel to Kingwood on Tuesday. The Woodlands’ regular season ends with a home game against College Park on Friday and a visit to Conroe on Feb. 15.

“We can’t look any further than (Tuesday),” Reed said. “Kingwood’s in second place in our district. We have to prepare for that. That’s going to be a tough, tough test to go to their environment and play the second-best team in our district. That’s all we can focus on.